Pakistan

Lahore, Jan 20 (PTI) The killing of four people, including a man, his wife and their teenage daughter, in what Pakistan's Punjab police called a shootout with "terrorists" has triggered a public outcry and the victims' family held a protest against the "staged" encounter.

The family was travelling in a car when the alleged encounter which the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials later termed an 'intelligence-based operation' took place on a highway in Sahiwal, about 200 kms from Lahore, on Saturday.

Islamabad, Jan 17 (PTI) Pakistan's Supreme Court Thursday ordered the government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan to lift the travel ban imposed on opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the Sindh Chief Minister, and asked the country's anti-corruption body to probe their involvement in Rs 35 billion 'fake accounts case'.

As many as 172 suspects were placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) on the recommendations of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the apex court. A person cannot fly abroad if his name is placed on the ECL.

14 Jan 2019; AFP: Freelance reporter Asad Hashim was named as winner of the 2018 Agence France-Presse Kate Webb Prize on Monday for his coverage of the plight of ethnic Pashtuns and blasphemy issues in his native Pakistan.

The award, named after one of AFP's finest correspondents, recognises journalism by locally-hired reporters in Asia operating in risky or difficult conditions.

Islamabad, Jan 14; PTI/GANASHAKTI: The US' demand for maintaining long-term military bases in Afghanistan has emerged as a sticking point in talks with the Taliban to end the 17-year-long war in the country, according to a media report here.

The report came as the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, stepped up efforts to bring the Taliban to negotiations, with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Russia and Iran involved in discussions with the Taliban over the past few months.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan; 13 Jan 2019; AA: Saudi Minister for Petroleum and Energy Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz confirmed that his country will establish an oil refinery in Pakistan's southwestern strategic port city of Gwadar at a cost of $10 billion, local media reported on Sunday.

The agreement is likely to be signed during a proposed visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to Pakistan in February, daily Dawn reported.

Islamabad, Jan 11; PTI: The Pakistan government has decided to continue the travel ban on former president Asif Ali Zardari, his son Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah among other Pakistan Peoples Party leaders, a top minister said.

The decision, which prevents them from flying abroad, was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday, Dawn news reported.

Islamabad, Jan 7 :  A top court in Pakistan on Monday indefinitely postponed hearing of a petition filed by jailed former premier Nawaz Sharif seeking suspension of his sentence in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case

On December 24, 2018, Accountability Court II Judge Arshad Malik sentenced 69-year-old Sharif to seven years in prison along with a fine of Rs 1.5 billion and USD 25 million in the Al-Azizia corruption case, concluding a series of three court cases against the Sharif family in the high-profile Panama Papers scandal

ISLAMABAD, Dec 25 (APP):Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry Tuesday said the modus operandi of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and that of erstwhile president Asif Ali Zardari to plunder the national wealth were the same.

“Probably, the money laundering networks being run by the families of these two are the biggest in world,” he said addressing a news conference here.

KARACHI / ISLAMABAD, 24 Dec 2018; AA: A Pakistani court on Monday sentenced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to seven years in jail in two corruption cases.

Sharif himself was present in the accountability court in the capital Islamabad to hear the much-anticipated verdict after a 15-month legal process in the cases, popularly known as Al Azizia Steel Mills.

KARACHI, Pakistan; 24 Dec 2018; AA: Pakistan's Supreme Court Monday summoned the country's former President Asif Ali Zardari for alleged involvement in a massive money laundering, according to the court records and local media.

Headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, three-member bench also barred Zardari and others accused from trading properties in the case at the Supreme Court's Lahore branch.

The court ordered them to submit their replies by December 31, local broadcaster Geo News reported.